Cesvi, wars and climate have left 645 million people hungry in 2025

After almost twenty years of progress, world hunger is growing again compared to 2018. In 2025, 645 million people - almost the entire population of Europe - suffered from hunger. Among these, 147.4 million are in 19 countries affected by conflict and 87.5 million in 16 countries affected by extreme climate events. And the count risks rising: the new El Niño could lead to acute hunger for another 49 million people by the end of 2027.

This is the picture that emerges from the Global Hunger Index 2026 (Global Hunger Index - Ghi), one of the main international reports on the measurement of hunger in the world, edited by Cesvi for the Italian edition and drawn up by Welthungerhilfe (Whh), Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (Ifhv) and Helvetas.

It is children who pay the highest price: in 2025, 35.5 million suffered from acute malnutrition, almost 10 million in the most severe form. In the same year, for the first time, famine was confirmed in two contexts simultaneously, the Gaza Strip and Sudan, and in 2026 the risk of famine also concerns three other countries: Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan.

The report shows that hunger is alarming in 8 countries - Burundi, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen - and serious in 36; in 32 countries the level of hunger is higher than in 2018.